Elmont horse hospital trots toward the starting gate

By: David Winzelberg October 3, 2008Comments Off on Elmont horse hospital trots toward the starting gate

Big Brown

Before this year’s Kentucky Derby, the owners of Big Brown would have bet that next month’s opening of their new horse hospital would be their biggest thrill in 2008.

And though the now-famous chestnut colt went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, owners Richard Schiavo and Michael Iavarone are still gambling that their Ruffian Equine Medical Center in Elmont will make a bigger impact with Long Island’s horse community.

Named after the legendary filly treated by track doctors after a spill at Belmont, the horse hospital will be equipped with machinery sturdy enough to lift and carry heavy, four-legged patients.

The 23,000-square-foot, $16 million hospital across from Belmont Park will also have 29 stables, two operating rooms, a radiology unit, laboratory, pharmacy and a treadmill. The center will be run by Dr. James Hunt, a Belmont veterinarian who already treats about 60 percent of the 3,000 horses there and at Aqueduct.

Big Brown’s owners are having a pretty good year. By August, their company, International Equine Acquisitions and Holdings, had eclipsed $8 million in winnings. The Garden City-based company has also reaped several million dollars for Big Brown’s stud fees so far.

But unlike Big Brown’s meteoric rise, IEAH had to wait nearly four years to build the hospital. Though it’s been built on less than an acre on Plainfield Avenue, IEAH had to acquire three separate properties to make room for its first medical facility.

Schiavo said the company plans to develop similar equine medical facilities near racetracks in other parts of the country. He said the next proposed horse hospital site would likely be somewhere in Florida.

“Our goal is to do a number of these hospitals where there is a need,” Schiavo said. “We wanted to get the first one open. Then we’ll start thinking about other spots.”

The Elmont hospital will be close enough to serve the estimated 300,000 horses boarded in New York and New Jersey, according to IEAH, which added that Long Island’s horse owners currently have to go to upstate New York or Pennsylvania to get the care they will get from the Elmont facility.

IEAH added that since it owns about 80 thoroughbreds, it would only play the role of hospital landlord, avoiding horse care entirely to avoid any hint of impropriety. The state Racing and Wagering Board’s rules require a separation among the jobs of horse owner, trainer and veterinarian.

The two-story hospital takes the place of the old Western Hay & Feed building and warehouse, a landscaping equipment yard and a small equine clinic.

IEAH is establishing a hedge fund to pay for future equine development projects.